Pat ‘89 and Jana Eilers of Winnetka, Illinois, have made a gift to the University of Notre Dame to endow the Eilers Family Sports Performance Center inside Jack and Kathy Shields Family Hall, the new operational home of the Fighting Irish football program. Pat was a two-year starter for the Notre Dame football program and a member of the 1988 national championship team.
The Eilers Family Sports Performance Center encompasses all of the sports performance areas of support including Sports Medicine, Strength & Conditioning, Sport Psychology, and Sports Nutrition. That support is brought to life by a cutting edge weight room, athletic training and rehab space, physician exam rooms, fuel station and recovery suite.
“Pat and Jana’s endowment of our Associate Athletics Director for Sports Performance position represents their ongoing commitment to our student-athletes and the ever-evolving, holistic support our coaches and practitioners provide in preparing them to perform like champions,” said Pat and Jana Eilers Sr. Associate Athletics Director for Sports Performance John Wagle. “We are grateful to the Eilers for not only this gift, but for being advocates of our vision to be the gold standard in sports performance worldwide.”
The Eilers’ dedication and passion for Notre Dame is steadfast. Pat and Jana are members of the Badin Guild, the President’s Circle, the Rockne Athletics Fund, the Wall Street Leadership Committee, and the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. Additionally, Pat is a member of the Monogram Club, having lettered in both football and baseball, and Jana serves on the Hesburgh Women of Impact Leadership Committee.
The endowment of the Eilers Family Sports Performance Center is one of several major commitments the family has made in support of Notre Dame Athletics. Much of their giving has centered on endowing key coaching and staff positions, including the football program's defensive backs coach, the Joe Moore Offensive Line Coach position, and the athletic department's director of sports performance. The family has also supported major facility projects, contributing to the construction of the Irish Athletics Center in addition to the Sports Performance Center. Beyond athletics, the family's philanthropy has also extended to academics, most notably through the establishment of the Pat and Jana Eilers Family Endowed Engineering Fellowship in the Energy Center.
Pat earned degrees in biology (1989) and mechanical engineering (1990) from Notre Dame and an MBA from Northwestern University (1999). Jana graduated from University of St. Thomas (1989) with a degree in marketing. Pat is the Founder and Managing Partner of Transition Equity Partners LLC. Jana is passionate about cooking, an avid photographer, and she is dedicated to serving her family and community through volunteerism and philanthropy. The couple’s four children – Elizabeth ‘15, Katherine ‘17 (women’s lacrosse), Clare ‘20 and Patrick ‘25 (men’s lacrosse) – are all Notre Dame graduates.
“Notre Dame has shaped our family in countless ways, making this gift especially meaningful to us,” Pat Eilers said. “We are humbled to know the Eilers Family Sports Performance Center will help generations of student-athletes achieve their full potential physically, mentally, and spiritually. We believe the Center will also bring to life the University’s Strategic Framework focused on health and well-being, which pursues breakthroughs in medical research, mental health, and wellness.”